Computer Network

(20AIM644A)
Module 1
 MODULE -1

Introduction: OSI, TCP/IP and other networks models, Network

Topologies, WAN, LAN, MAN. Transmission media, copper, twisted
pair, wireless, switching and Multiplexing and Demultiplexing,
Networking Devices
Introduction to Networking

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What is a Network?

A network consists of 2 or more computers

connected together, and they can communicate and
share resources (e.g. information)

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Why Networking?

• RESOURCE SHARING

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• Sharing hardware or software
• E.g. print document

• Centralize administration and support

• E.g. Internet-based, so everyone can access the same
administrative or support application from their PCs

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How many kinds of Networks?
• Depending on one’s perspective, we can classify
networks in different ways
• Based on transmission media: Wired (UTP, coaxial
cables, fiber-optic cables) and Wireless
• Based on network size: LAN and WAN (and MAN)
• Based on management method: Peer-to-peer and
Client/Server
• Based on topology (connectivity): Bus, Star, Ring …
:
:
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Peer-to-Peer Networks
• Peer-to-peer network is also called workgroup
• No hierarchy among computers  all are equal
• No administrator responsible for the network

Peer-to-peer

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 Clients and Servers

• Network Clients (Workstation)

• Computers that request network resources or services
• Network Servers
• Computers that manage and provide network resources and services to clients
• Usually have more processing power, memory and hard disk space than
clients
• Run Network Operating System that can manage not only data, but also
users, groups, security, and applications on the network
• Servers often have a more stringent requirement on its performance and
reliability

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 OSI Model

Introduction
 The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model is a
reference model for understanding data communications
between any two networked systems.
Seven Layers

How to remember all the names of the layers? Easy

•Please | Physical Layer

•Do | Data Link Layer
•Not | Network Layer
•Tell (the) | Transport Layer
•Secret | Session Layer
•Password (to) | Presentation Layer
•Anyone | Application Layer
 The Application Layer

• The application layer provides different services to the application.

• Protocols in Application layer are STTP,FTP,TELNET,POP3…
• Output of this layer is always some numbers or strings
Functions:
o Remote file access
o Electronic messaging
o Directory services
o Network management
 The Presentation Layer

• The Presentation layer is responsible for Translation, data

encryption/decryption, Expanding graphics command and the
data compression.
Functions:
o Character code translation
o Data conversion
o Data compression
 The Session Layer

• This layer is responsible for establishing the process-to-process

communication between the hosts in the network.
Functions:
o Session establishment, maintenance and termination
o Session support
 The Transport Layer

• This layer is responsible for end-to-end delivers of messages

between the networked hosts
• TCP,UDP protocols are used in this layer
Functions:
o Message segmentation
o Flow control: //Controls speed of transmitted data
o Error Control
 The Network Layer

• This layer is responsible for translating the logical network

address and names into their physical address.
Functions :
o Logical addressing (IP address):IP address of sender 7 receiver
is incorporated in the message
o Path determination :Best path from source to destination
o Routing :Routers operates on this layer
 Data link Layer

• Data link layer is responsible for controlling the error between

adjacent nodes and transfer the frames to other computer via
physical layer.
• Switches operates on this layer
Functions:
o Adds MAC address(unique 48 bit address for hardware) to data
packet
o Frame acknowledgment
 The Physical Layer
Physical Layer is responsible for transmitting row bit
stream over the physical cable.
Means converts the output from data link layer (Bits) to
signals.
Functions:
 Data encoding
Transmission technique
Physical medium transmission
TCP/IP Model

• TCP/IP are two protocols of this model. TCP stands for

Transmission Control Protocol and IP stands for
Internet Protocol.

• There are 4 Layers in TCP/IP Model.

 Application Layer

• The Application Layer in TCP/IP groups the functions of OSI

Application, Presentation Layer and Session Layer.

Functions:
o Refers to standard network services
o Also defines compatible representation of all data
Transport Layer
• In TCP/IP architecture, there are two Transport Layer protocols. The Transmission
Control Protocol (TCP) guarantees information transmission
Functions:
o Manages the transfer of data
o Manages the connections between networked applications
 Internet Layer

• The Internet Protocol (IP) is the primary protocol in the TCP/IP

Network Layer.
Functions:
o Manages addressing of packets and delivery of packets between
networks
o Fragments packets so that they can be dealt with by lower level
layer
Network Layer
• In the TCP/IP architecture, the Data Link Layer and Physical Layer are normally
grouped together to become the Network Access layer
Functions:
o Delivers data via physical link
o Provides error detection and packet framing
 OSI Model vs.TCP/IP Model

• The OSI model consists of 7 architectural layers whereas

the TCP/IP only has 4 layers.
• OSI is a reference model and TCP/IP is an implementation
of OSI model.
• The OSI model however is a "generic, protocol-
independent standard.
Sr. No. TCP/IP Reference Model OSI Reference Model
Defined after the advent of
1 Defined before advent of internet.
Internet.
Service interface and protocols
Service interface and protocols
2 were not clearly distinguished
are clearly distinguished
before
TCP/IP supports Internet
3 Internet working not supported
working
4 Loosely layered Strict layering

5 Protocol Dependant standard Protocol independent standard

6 More Credible Less Credible
TCP reliably delivers packets, IP
7 does not reliably deliver All packets are reliably delivered
packets
 Network Topology ― 3 basic
types
• How so many computers are connected together?
Bus Topology Ring Topology

Star Topology
Hub

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• Bus Topology
• Simple and low-cost
• A single cable called a trunk (backbone, segment)
• Only one computer can send messages at a time
• Passive topology - computer only listen for, not
regenerate data

• Star Topology
• Each computer has a cable connected to a single point
• More cabling, hence higher cost
• All signals transmission through the hub; if down, entire
network down
• Depending on the intelligence of hub, two or more
computers may send message at the same time

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• Ring Topology
• Every computer serves as Ack T T
a repeater to boost signals T
• Typical way to send data: T dat T dat
a a
• Token passing
• only the computer who T
T
gets the token can send T Ack T Ackdat
data a
• Disadvantages T
• Difficult to add computers T Ack
• More expensive
• If one computer fails, whole network fails
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Types of Network
There are many types of computer networking which are used world
wide these days. There are some types of network that are using
Worldwide:
 LAN - Local Area Network
 WAN - Wide Area Network
 WLAN - Wireless Local Area Network
 PAN - Personal Area Network
 SAN - Storage Area Network
 GAN - Global Area Network
 MAN - Metropolitan Area Network
 CAN - Controller Area Network
 DAN - Desk Area Network
 VPN - Virtual Private Network
PAN(Personal Area Network)

 Personal Area Network is a network arranged within an

individual person, typically within a range of 10 meters.

 Personal Area Network is used for connecting the computer

devices of personal use is known as Personal Area Network.

 Thomas Zimmerman was the first research scientist to

bring the idea of the Personal Area Network.

 Personal Area Network covers an area of 30 feet.

 Personal computer devices that are used to develop the

personal area network are the laptop, mobile phones, media
player and play stations.
 Wired Personal Area Network: Wired Personal Area
Network is created by using the USB

 Wireless Personal Area Network: Wireless Personal Area

Network is developed by simply using wireless technologies
such as WiFi, Bluetooth. It is a low range network.
LAN(Local Area Network)

 Local Area Network is a group of computers connected to

each other in a small area such as building, office.

 LAN is used for connecting two or more personal computers

through a communication medium such as twisted pair,
coaxial cable, etc.

 It is less costly as it is built with inexpensive hardware such

as hubs, network adapters, and ethernet cables.

 The data is transferred at an extremely faster rate in Local

Area Network.

 Local Area Network provides higher security.

MAN(Metropolitan Area Network)

 A metropolitan area network is a network that

covers a larger geographic area by
interconnecting a different LAN to form a larger
network.

 Government agencies use MAN to connect to the

citizens and private industries.

 In MAN, various LANs are connected to each

other through a telephone exchange line.

 The most widely used protocols in MAN are RS-

232, Frame Relay, ATM, ISDN, OC-3, ADSL, etc.

 It has a higher range than Local Area

Network(LAN).
Uses Of Metropolitan Area Network:

 MAN is used in communication between the banks in a city.

 It can be used in an Airline Reservation.
 It can be used in a college within a city.
 It can also be used for communication in the military.
WAN(Wide Area Network)

 A Wide Area Network is a network that extends over a large

geographical area such as states or countries.

 A Wide Area Network is quite bigger network than the LAN.

 A Wide Area Network is not limited to a single location, but

it spans over a large geographical area through a telephone
line, fibre optic cable or satellite links.

 The internet is one of the biggest WAN in the world.

 A Wide Area Network is widely used in the field of

Business, government, and education.
 Applications of WAN

 Mobile Broadband: A 4G network is widely used across a

region or country.
 Last mile: A telecom company is used to provide the
internet services to the customers in hundreds of cities by
connecting their home with fiber.
 Private network: A bank provides a private network that
connects the 44 offices. This network is made by using the
telephone leased line provided by the telecom company
Advantages Of Wide Area Network: Disadvantages of Wide Area Network:
Following are the advantages of the Wide Area The following are the disadvantages of the Wide Area Network:
Network: •Security issue: A WAN network has more security issues as
•Centralized data: In case of WAN network, data compared to LAN and MAN network as all the technologies are
is centralized. Therefore, we do not need to buy combined together that creates the security problem.
the emails, files or back up servers. •Needs Firewall & antivirus software: The data is transferred
•Get updated files: Software companies work on on the internet which can be changed or hacked by the hackers,
the live server. Therefore, the programmers get the so the firewall needs to be used. Some people can inject the
updated files within seconds. virus in our system so antivirus is needed to protect from such a
•Exchange messages: In a WAN network, virus.
messages are transmitted fast. The web application •High Setup cost: An installation cost of the WAN network is
like Facebook, Whatsapp, Skype allows you to high as it involves the purchasing of routers, switches.
communicate with friends. •Troubleshooting problems: It covers a large area so fixing the
•Sharing of software and resources: In WAN problem is difficult.
network, we can share the software and other
resources like a hard drive, RAM.
•Global business: We can do the business over the
internet globally.
•High bandwidth: If we use the leased lines for
our company then this gives the high bandwidth.
The high bandwidth increases the data transfer rate
which in turn increases the productivity of our
company.
Distinguish Between LAN,WAN,MAN
 Transmission Media
• Transmission media is a communication channel that
carries the information from the sender to the receiver.
Data is transmitted through the electromagnetic signals.

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Copper
• Copper wire is the preferred conductor for many electrical
applications because of the high conductivity of copper, which
contributes to its optimal performance.
• Suitable for a wide range of applications due to its versatility, copper
requires less insulation and can be stretched more effectively than
other metals.
• Though copper is an excellent conductor of electricity.
Some factors need to be considered for designing the transmission
media:
• Bandwidth: All the factors are remaining constant, the greater the
bandwidth of a medium, the higher the data transmission rate of a
signal.
• Transmission impairment: When the received signal is not identical to
the transmitted one due to the transmission impairment. The quality of
the signals will get destroyed due to transmission impairment.

• Interference: An interference is defined as the process of disrupting a

signal when it travels over a communication medium on the addition of
some unwanted signal.
• Attenuation: Attenuation means the loss of energy, i.e., the strength
of the signal decreases with increasing the distance which causes the
loss of energy.
• Distortion: Distortion occurs when there is a change in the shape of
the signal. This type of distortion is examined from different signals
having different frequencies. Each frequency component has its own
propagation speed, so they reach at a different time which leads to
the delay distortion.
• Noise: When data is travelled over a transmission medium, some
unwanted signal is added to it which creates the noise.
 Twisted-Pair Cables
• Twisted pair is a physical media made up of a pair of cables twisted with
each other.
• A twisted pair cable is cheap as compared to other transmission media.
• Installation of the twisted pair cable is easy, and it is a lightweight cable.
• The frequency range for twisted pair cable is from 0 to 3.5KHz.
• If the pair of wires are not twisted, electromagnetic noises from, e.g.,
motors, will affect the closer wire more than the further one, thereby
causing errors

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Types of Twisted pair:
 Unshielded Twisted Pair
• An unshielded twisted pair is widely used in telecommunication. Following are the
categories of the unshielded twisted pair cable:
• Category 1: Category 1 is used for telephone lines that have low-speed data.
• Category 2: It can support upto 4Mbps.
• Category 3: It can support upto 16Mbps.
• Category 4: It can support upto 20Mbps. Therefore, it can be used for long-distance
communication.
• Category 5: It can support upto 200Mbps.
Advantages Of Unshielded Twisted Pair:
• It is cheap.
• Installation of the unshielded twisted pair is easy.
• It can be used for high-speed LAN.
Insul Me
Disadvantage:
ator tal
• This cable can only be used for shorter distances because of attenuation.

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Shielded Twisted
Pair

• A shielded twisted pair is a cable that contains the mesh surrounding the wire that allows the
higher transmission rate.
Characteristics Of Shielded Twisted Pair:
• The cost of the shielded twisted pair cable is not very high and not very low.
• An installation of STP is easy.
• It has higher capacity as compared to unshielded twisted pair cable.
• It has a higher attenuation.
• It is shielded that provides the higher data transmission rate.
Disadvantages
• It is more expensive as compared to UTP and coaxial cable.
• It has a higher attenuation rate.
 Coaxial Cable
•Coaxial cable is very commonly used transmission media, for
example, TV wire is usually a coaxial cable.
•The name of the cable is coaxial as it contains two conductors
parallel to each other.
•It has a higher frequency as compared to Twisted pair cable.
•The inner conductor of the coaxial cable is made up of copper,
and the outer conductor is made up of copper mesh. The middle
core is made up of non-conductive cover that separates the inner
conductor from the outer conductor.
•The middle core is responsible for the data transferring
whereas the copper mesh prevents from
the EMI(Electromagnetic interference).

Coaxial cable is of two types:

1.Baseband transmission: It is defined as the process of
transmitting a single signal at high speed.
2.Broadband transmission: It is defined as the process of
transmitting multiple signals simultaneously.
 Fiber Optic
Fiber optic cable is a cable that uses electrical signals for
communication.
Fiber optic is a cable that holds the optical fibres coated in plastic that
are used to send the data by pulses of light.
The plastic coating protects the optical fibres from heat, cold,
electromagnetic interference from other types of wiring.
Fiber optics provide faster data transmission than copper wires.
 Basic elements of Fiber optic cable:

 Core: The optical fiber consists of a narrow strand of glass or plastic known as a core.
A core is a light transmission area of the fiber. The more the area of the core, the more
light will be transmitted into the fiber. .
 Cladding: The concentric layer of glass is known as cladding. The main functionality
of the cladding is to provide the lower refractive index at the core interface as to cause
the reflection within the core so that the light waves are transmitted through the fiber. .
 Jacket: The protective coating consisting of plastic is known as a jacket. The main
purpose of a jacket is to preserve the fibre strength, absorb shock and extra fiber.
protection.
Following are the advantages of fiber optic cable over copper:

 Greater Bandwidth: The fiber. optic cable provides more bandwidth as compared
copper. Therefore, the fiber. optic carries more data as compared to copper cable.
 Faster speed: fiber. optic cable carries the data in the form of light. This allows the
fiber. optic cable to carry the signals at a higher speed.
 Longer distances: The fiber. optic cable carries the data at a longer distance as
compared to copper cable.
 Better reliability: The fiber. optic cable is more reliable than the copper cable as it is
immune to any temperature changes while it can cause obstruct in the connectivity of
copper cable.
 Thinner and Sturdier: fiber. optic cable is thinner and lighter in weight so it can
withstand more pull pressure than copper cable.
 Unguided Transmission

 An unguided transmission transmits the electromagnetic waves without using any

physical medium. Therefore it is also known as wireless transmission.
 In unguided media, air is the media through which the electromagnetic energy can
flow easily.
Radio waves
 Radio waves are the electromagnetic waves that are transmitted in all the
directions of free space.
 Radio waves are omnidirectional, i.e., the signals are propagated in all the
directions.
 The range in frequencies of radio waves is from 3Khz to 1 khz.
 In the case of radio waves, the sending and receiving antenna are not aligned, i.e.,
the wave sent by the sending antenna can be received by any receiving antenna.
 An example of the radio wave is FM radio.
Applications Of Radio waves:

 A Radio wave is useful for multicasting when there is one sender and many
receivers.
 An FM radio, television, cordless phones are examples of a radio wave.

Advantages Of Radio transmission:

 Radio transmission is mainly used for wide area networks and mobile cellular
phones.
 Radio waves cover a large area, and they can penetrate the walls.
 Radio transmission provides a higher transmission rate.
Microwaves
Terrestrial Microwave Transmission

 Terrestrial Microwave transmission is a technology that transmits the focused beam

of a radio signal from one ground-based microwave transmission antenna to
another.
 Microwaves are the electromagnetic waves having the frequency in the range from
1GHz to 1000 GHz.
 Microwaves are unidirectional as the sending and receiving antenna is to be
aligned, i.e., the waves sent by the sending antenna are narrowly focused.
 In this case, antennas are mounted on the towers to send a beam to another antenna
which is km away.
 It works on the line of sight transmission, i.e., the antennas mounted on the towers
are the direct sight of each other.
Satellite Microwave Communication

 A satellite is a physical object that revolves around the earth at a known height.
 Satellite communication is more reliable nowadays as it offers more flexibility
than cable and fibre optic systems.
 We can communicate with any point on the globe by using satellite
communication.

 How Does Satellite work?

 The satellite accepts the signal that is transmitted from the earth station, and it
amplifies the signal. The amplified signal is retransmitted to another earth
station
Infrared

An infrared transmission is a wireless technology used for

communication over short ranges.
The frequency of the infrared in the range from 300 GHz to 400 THz.
It is used for short-range communication such as data transfer
between two cell phones, TV remote operation, data transfer between
a computer and cell phone resides in the same closed area.
Characteristics Of Infrared:

It supports high bandwidth, and hence the data rate will be very high.
Infrared waves cannot penetrate the walls. Therefore, the infrared
communication in one room cannot be interrupted by the nearby
rooms.
An infrared communication provides better security with minimum
interference.
Infrared communication is unreliable outside the building because the
sun rays will interfere with the infrared waves.
Switching
• In large networks, there can be
multiple paths from sender to
receiver. The switching
technique will decide the best
route for data transmission.
• Switching technique is used to
connect the systems for making
one-to-one communication.
 Circuit Switching
• Circuit switching is a switching technique that establishes a dedicated
path between sender and receiver.
• In the Circuit Switching Technique, once the connection is established
then the dedicated path will remain to exist until the connection is
terminated.
• Circuit switching in a network operates in a similar way as the
telephone works.
Message Switching
• Message Switching is a switching technique in which a message is
transferred as a complete unit and routed through intermediate
nodes at which it is stored and forwarded.
• There is no establishment of a dedicated path between the sender
and receiver.
• The destination address is appended to the message and provides a
dynamic routing as the message is routed through the intermediate
nodes based on the information available in the message.
Packet Switching

• The packet switching is a switching technique in which the message is

sent in one go, but it is divided into smaller pieces, and they are sent
individually.
• The message splits into smaller pieces known as packets and packets
are given a unique number to identify their order at the receiving end.
• Every packet contains some information in its headers such as source
address, destination address and sequence number.
• Packets will travel across the network, taking the shortest path as
possible.
• All the packets are reassembled at the receiving end in correct order.
Multiplexing

• Multiplexing is the process of collecting the data from multiple

application processes of the sender, enveloping that data with
headers and sending them as a whole to the intended receiver.
• In Multiplexing at the Transport Layer, the data is collected from various
application processes. These segments contain the source port number,
destination port number, header files, and data.
• These segments are passed to the Network Layer which adds the source and
destination IP address to get the datagram.
Demultiplexing
• Delivering the received segments at the receiver side to the correct
app layer processes is called demultiplexing.
• The destination host receives the IP datagrams; each datagram has a source
IP address and a destination IP address.
• Each datagram carries 1 transport layer segment.
• Each segment has the source and destination port number.
• The destination host uses the IP addresses and port numbers to direct the
segment to the appropriate socket.
• In the above figure, the Application layer has generated data, and then
passed it down to the Transport layer to be segmented.
• After segmenting the data, port numbers are given to each segment to be
ready for transmission.
• Then the segments are put on a wire to travel across the network to the
destination. This process is called "multiplexing".
• When the transmitted segments reach the Transport layer of the
destination, they are automatically sent up to their appropriate
applications. This process is called "demultiplexing".
Network Devices

• Network devices, also known as networking hardware, are physical

devices that allow hardware on a computer network to communicate
and interact with one another.
• For example Repeater, Hub, Bridge, Switch, Routers, Gateway, Brouter,
and NIC, etc.
1. Repeater
• A repeater operates at the physical layer.
• Its job is to regenerate the signal over the same network before the
signal becomes too weak or corrupted to extend the length to which
the signal can be transmitted over the same network.
• An important point to be noted about repeaters is that they do not
amplify the signal. When the signal becomes weak, they copy it bit by
bit and regenerate it at its star topology connectors connecting if
original strength.
• It is a 2-port device.
2. Hub
• A hub is a basically multi-port repeater.
• A hub connects multiple wires coming from different branches, for
example, the connector in star topology which connects different
stations.
• Hubs cannot filter data, so data packets are sent to all connected
devices.
• Also, they do not have the intelligence to find out the best path for
data packets which leads to inefficiencies and wastage.
Types of Hub
• Active Hub:- These are the hubs that have their power supply and can clean,
boost, and relay the signal along with the network. It serves both as a
repeater as well as a wiring center. These are used to extend the maximum
distance between nodes.
• Passive Hub:- These are the hubs that collect wiring from nodes and power
supply from the active hub. These hubs relay signals onto the network
without cleaning and boosting them and can’t be used to extend the distance
between nodes.
• Intelligent Hub:- It works like an active hub and includes remote
management capabilities. They also provide flexible data rates to network
devices. It also enables an administrator to monitor the traffic passing
through the hub and to configure each port in the hub.
3. Bridge
• A bridge operates at the data link layer. A bridge is a repeater, with add on the
functionality of filtering content by reading the MAC addresses of the source
and destination. It is also used for interconnecting two LANs working on the
same protocol. It has a single input and single output port, thus making it a 2
port device.
Types of Bridges
• Transparent Bridges:- These are the bridge in which the stations are completely
unaware of the bridge’s existence .These bridges make use of two processes i.e.
bridge forwarding and bridge learning.
• Source Routing Bridges:- In these bridges, routing operation is performed by the
source station and the frame specifies which route to follow. The host can
discover the frame by sending a special frame called the discovery frame, which
spreads through the entire network using all possible paths to the destination.
4. Switch
• A switch is a multiport bridge with a buffer and a design that can
boost its efficiency(a large number of ports imply less traffic) and
performance.
• A switch is a data link layer device.
• The switch can perform error checking before forwarding data, which
makes it very efficient as it does not forward packets that have errors
and forward good packets selectively to the correct port only.
• In other words, the switch divides the collision domain of hosts, but
the broadcast domain remains the same.
5. Routers
• A router is a device like a switch
that routes data packets based on
their IP addresses. The router is
mainly a Network Layer device.
Routers normally connect LANs
and WANs and have a dynamically
updating routing table based on
which they make decisions on
routing the data packets. The
router divides the broadcast
domains of hosts connected
through it.
6. Gateway
• A gateway, as the name suggests, is a passage to connect two
networks that may work upon different networking models.
• They work as messenger agents that take data from one system,
interpret it, and transfer it to another system.
• Gateways are also called protocol converters and can operate at any
network layer.
• Gateways are generally more complex than switches or routers.
• A gateway is also called a protocol converter.
7. Brouter
• It is also known as the bridging router is a device that combines
features of both bridge and router.
• It can work either at the data link layer or a network layer.
• Working as a router, it is capable of routing packets across networks
and working as the bridge, it is capable of filtering local area network
traffic.
8. NIC
• NIC or network interface card is a network adapter that is used to
connect the computer to the network.
• It is installed in the computer to establish a LAN. It has a unique id
that is written on the chip, and it has a connector to connect the cable
to it.
• The cable acts as an interface between the computer and the router
or modem.
• NIC card is a layer 2 device which means that it works on both the
physical and data link layers of the network model.